România în cadrul celui de-al treilea val al democratizării

Abstract

Following the process of democratization at the end of the World War II and after the rising of new democracies in Southern Europe (Greece, Portugal, Spain) and Latin America, "the third wave of democratization" has risen considerably the interest of researchers in understanding the new political processes developing in Central and Eastern Europe. The main question asked was related to the capacity of the new democracies to consolidate in time and attract support from their citizens. More than eleven years after the fall of communism the question still remains essential and the present paper tries to deal with several aspects of the state of democracy in Romania and its foreseeable future. The main conclusion of this endeavor is that economic difficulties do not favor democracy, but neither prevents, in an absolute manner, its edification. On the other hand, the democrat regime has certain weaknesses that make it vulnerable any time, even in the countries with developed economies. Hence the need for a continuous study of the function of democratic institutions and of the measures required to improve their performance.